International Women's Day Celebrates Women's Accomplishments, Promotes Need for Equality

On March 8, people around the globe will herald International Women's Day with hundreds of local and global events.

This month, audiences around the world cheered as female ski jumpers blazed into Olympic history. After a long-fought battle– including being told their bodies couldn’t handle the event– the athletes finally competed in the Olympic games.

On March 8, for International Women’s Day (IWD), people around the globe will again celebrate women’s accomplishments, and recognize what steps need to be taken toward equality.

While women have made huge leaps– including leading companies and gaining legislative rights– the battle has not been won, states internationalwomensday.com, which hosts a global hub for IWD. Women still earn less than their male peers, are not equally represented in businesses or politics, receive worse education than men, have worse health than men, and experience more violence.

Suffragettes in the United States founded National Women’s Day in the early 1900s to support their protests for voting and labor rights. A few years later, female activists in Europe adopted the idea, transforming it into an international day to recognize women’s progress and press for causes.Today, countries from Afghanistan to Zambia herald the day with unique traditions and hundreds of local and international events.

For IWD 2014, the United Nations is holding its 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, and focusing on the theme “equality for women is progress for all.” In Washington, D.C., a conference will promote the accomplishments of female entrepreneurs around the globe. People in Bangladesh will gather to discuss integrating gender equality into agriculture and nutrition. A march in Ireland will support women’s reproductive rights, and highlight the need to end violence against women.

Visit IWD’s global hub to find events near you, or use the day to celebrate the women that surround you, reflect on how far women have come, and think about what still needs to be accomplished.